Award-winning novelist Heidi Chiavaroli brings Lent to vivid life with stories of those who encounter our savior in the pages of Scripture. Today, at the beginning of Lent, we put ourselves in the shoes of those among the very first to meet Jesus – the shepherds.

A Shepherd’s Story

The lamb squirms in his arms and he remembers the first time he’d helped birth a lamb. The first time he’d wrapped a precious, pure animal in swaddling cloths. That day, his eight-­year-­old brother, Benesh, had begged to join him. Although Rani had agreed, he resented Benesh’s company.

But all that was forgotten when the ewe had brought forth a spotless lamb.

Though Benesh despised being alone in the fields, Rani handed him his rod and staff, instructing his brother to stay with the sheep. He had not waited for Benesh’s agreement before rushing toward the city to find his father.

At the city gates, Rani heard Benesh calling after him. He silently cursed his brother for leaving the sheep. As always, though, his brother followed him. When Rani ducked around the chariot of the imperial family to escape Benesh, he had not expected his small brother to follow.

Explore 7 meaningful reads for Lent to deepen your faith, renew your focus, and draw closer to Jesus during the 40-day journey to Easter.

As we step into another season of Lent, it’s the perfect time to step back from the noise of the world and reflect on Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice. This sacred season invites us to renew our commitment to faith and deepen our understanding of God’s forgiveness. What better way to do that than by opening a few meaningful reads for Lent?  

This season isn’t about striving harder or doing more. It’s about drawing closer. It’s about setting aside the things that compete for our attention so we can listen more closely to the voice of the One who calls us by name. It’s a time to lay down our burdens, our fears, and even our expectations, and sit again at the feet of Jesus.

One of the most meaningful ways to walk through Lent is by filling our minds and hearts with words that point us back to Him. Thoughtful, Christ-centered reading can become a daily meeting place with God—an anchor in the middle of busy days and full schedules.

Lent can be a special time if you are intentional about observing it as a season of waiting and worship.

Is waiting something you enjoy and eagerly look forward to? 

Not me!

When I think of waiting, I think of sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room. Or sitting in my car on the freeway, with traffic stopped dead and no exit nearby.  Or standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles for what seems like hours.

Waiting is not my favorite, but it does remind me I’m not in control. God’s ways are higher than mine, He knows circumstances I can’t see, and even waiting is good for me even if I never know why.  

And waiting for a holiday, or an event like a birthday or wedding, makes the occasion more significant. This kind of waiting is good!

Observing Lent, which starts with Ash Wednesday on February 14, is a way to anticipate Easter in much the same way we anticipate Christmas. Lent is Easter’s Advent season, and it gives us a great opportunity on the church calendar for discipleship at home.

What a great way to celebrate Easter with your children–and ultimately your whole family–then with reading great stories full of His truth!?

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. The natural world is so full of resurrection and rebirth that it seems impossible to miss the real story despite the commercialization. Easter is a jubilant day for believers, a day of triumph over the absolute worst of everything that is in the world: sin, darkness, abandonment, and death. It’s even the reason that most of the Christian Church worships on the first day of the week.

But it wouldn’t be Easter without Good Friday. As a line from a favorite song says, “How can a day be a day without the night?” Perhaps a dozen years ago, I attended my first Tenebrae service. This traditional Good Friday service made a deep impression on my heart. I left the church feeling the weight of Jesus’ sacrifice, feeling actual grief over His death in a way I’d never understood before. When Easter dawned that Sunday, I had real joy in the resurrection.

Sometimes it’s hard for us, in our busy, comfortable lives, to really slow down and consider Jesus’ final days.

Do you ever wonder what God is doing?

Are you praying and waiting, praying and wondering—all the while knowing that He is the God who could change it all…but still hasn’t yet? Sometimes it’s hard to understand.

We play checkers while God is playing chess. Have you heard this phrase?

We keep our red and black chips close, carefully strategizing their moves, one by one. A jump here. One square there. Checker by checker making progress, one stealthy move at a time.

Only one move at a time, of course.  

It’s impossible for us to strategize more because we can’t be sure what our opponent’s move will be. At best, we might get a triple jump! But even that is rare and precisely accomplished with the movement of a solitary checker.

God, on the other hand, all-knowing and all-being, plays a glorious Master game of chess.

He has every piece’s move carefully and strategically planned. And He is making millions of moves all at once—kings, queens, pawns, bishops and more—all in a singular seamless movement, beautifully orchestrated as the pieces move in time to parts of the interwoven plan.